Irillian Empire

Often called the First Empire of Irill.

  • Capitol xxx
  • Official Languages(s) Irillian
  • Regional Languages(s) various dialects
  • Religion irrishite
  • Demonym Irillian
  • Government Emperor and Warlords
  • Area xxxk sq. km
    • Continental xxxk sq. km
    • Holdings xxxk sq. km
  • Population xx million
  • Currency Aur, Denii

The First Empire was dominated by the warlords of the Irillian tribes as they conquered their closest neighbors, eventually bringing the fractious Maesonites, Hayuk, Chemi, and Ijo under their control. The conquered peoples were watched by their Irillian overseers to stop any uprising, but it was in fact the warring between the various territorial warlords that spelled the doom of the First Empire.

With less external conflict, the warlords had fewer opportunities to raid and expand their own coffers from the booty. So, they turned to raiding their neighbors squeezing the conquered tribes even more. Open warfare between the various Irillian warlords was kept to a minimum by Emperor Cladius I, since he had the largest warband. It was the wide-scale rebellion by the Ijo that pointed to the destruction to come.

In Y42 (1187 AE) of the Irillian Empire the Ijo united under the leadership of Assisi. He was a young shaman that was born under Irillian rule. Hearing the tales of his people, then comparing that to the daily life under harsh taskmasters caused a great hatred to rise up within him. First with only the help of other young firebrands, then with the backing of the Ijo elders; Assisi drove his people to war.

To keep the warlords from attacking each other openly Emperor Cladius insisted that each warlord gave a large contingent of their men of fighting age to his personal army. While this ensured that he could keep the peace, it also made each warlord vulnerable to and uprising. With surprising speed Assisi overthrew his overseer and burned the warlord's house to the ground. The rebels put all Irillians to the sword in the villages they conquered. By Y45 Assisi had freed all of the lands traditionally held by the Ijo.

Cladius answered every Ijo massacre with one of his own. He drove his men harder against the Ijo that anyone else. Partly this was because they represented a threat to his rule, but he also feared a successful rebellion may spread to the other territories. It was over 10 years (Y57) before the Cladius' armies finally managed to quell the rebellion. To punish the Ijo he destroyed their culture, slew all of the men and scattered the women and children across the reaches of his empire. For all purposes the Ijo no longer existed, but not before Cladius was assassinated.

This solution proved so successful that beginning in Y61, under Emperor Daxinii, it was expanded to the other conquered tribes. In addition, Daxinni continued to expand his Empire towards the fertile valleys in the north. New treasures and land mollifed the warlords, but only until the crushing defeat on the Zarin river. Defended by a handful of warriors, the Irillian army routed from the field despite having superior numbers. This defeat marked the high-water point as a series of commanding generals were unable to push past the Zarin river. With nothing left to pay the mercenaries that made up a great deal of the army - or to pay the warlords for their warriors - the Empire collapsed in all but name.